I stumbled upon this book while preparing to read the latest book by Brock Clarke, an author I discovered in last year's 52 book challenge with The Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (click the link for my review). Clarke's latest book is called Exley, and is about a young boy who is looking for his father. The father's favorite book was A Fan's Notes, by Frederick Exley. The boy thinks that by finding Exley, he can find his father. I had never heard of A Fan's Notes, or Frederick Exley for that matter, so I decided that before I read Clarke's book, it might be a good idea to at least familiarize myself with Exley's work. The more I looked into it the more I wanted to read A Fan's Notes. I learned that Jonathan Yardley, the famous book reviewer from the Washington Post was a friend of Exley's and a fan of the book, and had even written a biography of the author. My copy of the book, which was part of the Modern Library collection of great books, sports a glowing blurb from none other than Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors of all time. I knew that I was not going to be able to read Brock Clarke's book until I tackled Frederick Exley's.
In a note to the reader at the beginning of the book, Exley proclaims A Fan's Notes to be a fictional memoir. However, if one digs a little bit into Exley's life story, one learns that this declaration probably springs more from a desire not to be sued than from a lack of authenticity. While it may not accurately name places, dates and people, the reader is left with the impression that the story captures the essence of Exley's life and his struggle with his work, his sexuality, his alcoholism, and his sanity.
Exley grows up in Watertown, NY, in the shadow of his father's hometown celebrity. His father, a high school football phenom who seems destined for greatness in college sports, decides instead to marry his high school sweetheart, but remains a hometown favorite. Exley does not share his father's gift for the game, but possesses a fan's love for the sport many times over. His affection is directed generally at the New York Giants and specifically at Frank Gifford, who was a star running back and wide receiver for the team. Exley obsesses over Gifford, who he met when he was at USC, and throughout the book he contrasts Gifford's successes with his own failures. This obsession is of interest, because it seems to be the only thing that he remotely cares about, except perhaps where he is going to get his next drink. His work, his relationships, and his mental health all seem to take a back seat to Frank Gifford and alcohol.
I would say that Exley struggles with the bottle, but it doesn't seem to be much of a struggle. He drinks frequently and prodigiously, and surrounds himself with enablers who put up with it far longer than anyone might imagine they would. He seems to struggle with his relationships with women and possibly his sexuality. At one minute he is with great bravado and vulgarity discussing his many supposed female conquests. The next minute he is telling us of Bunny Sue, supposedly the love of his life, with whom he is unable to consummate the relationship due to his impotence. Also the level at which he loathes homosexuals makes one think he "doth protest too much." He definitely struggles with his sanity, frequently coming across as delusional. He tells us he was diagnosed as "either a paranoic-schizophrenic, or a schizophrenic-paranoic." This diagnosis was delivered during one of several times he was institutionalized for his drinking and his behavior, and while locked away he received insulin shock and electroshock therapy (this was the 1950s). His state of mind, combined with his deep-seated insecurities and the fog of alcoholism makes him such a quintessentially unreliable narrator, that he has been compared to Nick Carraway, in The Great Gatsby. This presents us with another possible reason for the memoir being "fictional" - Exley just can't keep his facts straight.
I definitely found this book to be quite entertaining. Some people may be taken aback by Exley's homophobia and misogony, but there is also great humor to be found in Exley's disdain for society's expectations of him. I can't speak to the rest of Exley's work, however. His mental problems and alcohol addiction seems to have seriously affected his literary output. He only wrote a few other books, and none of them seem to be very highly regarded. Exley definitely seems to be a literary "one-hit wonder."
excellent write up. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea but sounds intriguing, none the less.
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